This book uses the climatic year of 1492, a year laden with epic events and riven by political debate, to explore a clash of civilizations — between the Jews, Christendom, and Islam, as well as that ...
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This book uses the climatic year of 1492, a year laden with epic events and riven by political debate, to explore a clash of civilizations — between the Jews, Christendom, and Islam, as well as that between the New World and the Old. In the same year that Columbus set sail across the Atlantic, the book reminds us, the Spanish monarchy captured Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the peninsula, and also expelled the Jews. It uses these three epochal events to explore the nature of the European-Islamic conflict, placing the voyages of discovery in a new context. It traces Christian Europe's path from being a primitive backwater on the edges of the vast, cosmopolitan Caliphate, through the heightening rivalry of the two religions, to the triumph of the West over Islam, examining the factors behind their changing fortunes and cultural qualities. The book provides a new understanding of the distant events that gave shape to the modern world.Less

Cultures in Conflict : Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Age of Discovery

Bernard Lewis

Published in print: 1996-04-04

This book uses the climatic year of 1492, a year laden with epic events and riven by political debate, to explore a clash of civilizations — between the Jews, Christendom, and Islam, as well as that between the New World and the Old. In the same year that Columbus set sail across the Atlantic, the book reminds us, the Spanish monarchy captured Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the peninsula, and also expelled the Jews. It uses these three epochal events to explore the nature of the European-Islamic conflict, placing the voyages of discovery in a new context. It traces Christian Europe's path from being a primitive backwater on the edges of the vast, cosmopolitan Caliphate, through the heightening rivalry of the two religions, to the triumph of the West over Islam, examining the factors behind their changing fortunes and cultural qualities. The book provides a new understanding of the distant events that gave shape to the modern world.

Jonathan S. Ray

Published in print:

2013

Published Online:

March 2016

ISBN:

9780814729113

eISBN:

9780814729120

Item type:

book

Publisher:

NYU Press

DOI:

10.18574/nyu/9780814729113.001.0001

Subject:

Religion, Judaism

On August 3, 1492, the same day that Columbus set sail from Spain, the long and glorious history of that nation's Jewish community officially came to a close. The expulsion of Europe's last major ...
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On August 3, 1492, the same day that Columbus set sail from Spain, the long and glorious history of that nation's Jewish community officially came to a close. The expulsion of Europe's last major Jewish community ended more than a thousand years of unparalleled prosperity, cultural vitality and intellectual productivity. Yet, the crisis of 1492 also gave rise to a dynamic and resilient diaspora society spanning East and West. This book traces the various paths of migration and resettlement of Sephardic Jews and Conversos over the course of the tumultuous sixteenth century. Pivotally, it argues that the exiles did not become “Sephardic Jews” overnight. Only in the second and third generation did these disparate groups coalesce and adopt a “Sephardic Jewish” identity. The book presents a new and fascinating portrait of Jewish society in transition from the medieval to the early modern period, a portrait that challenges many longstanding assumptions about the differences between Europe and the Middle East.Less

After Expulsion : 1492 and the Making of Sephardic Jewry

Jonathan S. Ray

Published in print: 2013-01-07

On August 3, 1492, the same day that Columbus set sail from Spain, the long and glorious history of that nation's Jewish community officially came to a close. The expulsion of Europe's last major Jewish community ended more than a thousand years of unparalleled prosperity, cultural vitality and intellectual productivity. Yet, the crisis of 1492 also gave rise to a dynamic and resilient diaspora society spanning East and West. This book traces the various paths of migration and resettlement of Sephardic Jews and Conversos over the course of the tumultuous sixteenth century. Pivotally, it argues that the exiles did not become “Sephardic Jews” overnight. Only in the second and third generation did these disparate groups coalesce and adopt a “Sephardic Jewish” identity. The book presents a new and fascinating portrait of Jewish society in transition from the medieval to the early modern period, a portrait that challenges many longstanding assumptions about the differences between Europe and the Middle East.

The rationale for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain was ostensibly because they exerted a negative influence on the baptized conversos. In truth, Jewish-converso relations during the fifteenth ...
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The rationale for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain was ostensibly because they exerted a negative influence on the baptized conversos. In truth, Jewish-converso relations during the fifteenth century were extremely complicated. In 1492, the reluctance of so many Jews to abandon their homeland led them to choose baptism, creating a new group of New Christians far more knowledgeable about Judaism than the descendants of the conversos of 1391. At the same time, some of the Jews who chose exile subsequently regretted their decision; those who opted for baptism between 1492 and 1499 formed a group of returnees. At the turn of the century, a Judaizing messianic movement transpired in Spain that resulted in increased inquisitorial activity.Less

The Expulsion and Its Consequences

Renee Levine Melammed

Published in print: 2004-10-28

The rationale for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain was ostensibly because they exerted a negative influence on the baptized conversos. In truth, Jewish-converso relations during the fifteenth century were extremely complicated. In 1492, the reluctance of so many Jews to abandon their homeland led them to choose baptism, creating a new group of New Christians far more knowledgeable about Judaism than the descendants of the conversos of 1391. At the same time, some of the Jews who chose exile subsequently regretted their decision; those who opted for baptism between 1492 and 1499 formed a group of returnees. At the turn of the century, a Judaizing messianic movement transpired in Spain that resulted in increased inquisitorial activity.

In the “Introduction,” Lee provides the theoretical framework of her book, which is founded on the notion that all textual production—literary and documentary—are valid in understanding the early ...
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In the “Introduction,” Lee provides the theoretical framework of her book, which is founded on the notion that all textual production—literary and documentary—are valid in understanding the early modern Spanish experience. She then explains the historical context for understanding the pervasive desire of New Christians and lowborns to “pass” for dominant members of society and proposes that dominant’s anxiety of sameness becomes a focal point in the construction of the other. She then summaries of the sections that encompass the book.Less

Introduction

Christina H. Lee

Published in print: 2015-12-01

In the “Introduction,” Lee provides the theoretical framework of her book, which is founded on the notion that all textual production—literary and documentary—are valid in understanding the early modern Spanish experience. She then explains the historical context for understanding the pervasive desire of New Christians and lowborns to “pass” for dominant members of society and proposes that dominant’s anxiety of sameness becomes a focal point in the construction of the other. She then summaries of the sections that encompass the book.

Since the nineteenth century the diary has been the most widely read and referenced account of the events of the 1492–93 crossing. It has been canonized despite the issues of unreliability that ...
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Since the nineteenth century the diary has been the most widely read and referenced account of the events of the 1492–93 crossing. It has been canonized despite the issues of unreliability that result in part from the changes introduced by its editor from early colonial times, the Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas. The version by de las Casas, produced some four decades or more after Columbus wrote the original diary, is the basis of all modern editions. The manuscript by Columbus and a contemporary copy did not survive into posterity. The de las Casas document itself was lost until the end of the eighteenth century and remained unpublished until 1825. It alternates between Columbus's first-person narrative in allegedly verbatim citations and de las Casas's third- person paraphrasings of the explorer's entries.Less

Columbus the Haunted: The Diary of the First Voyage and William Carlos Williams's “The Discovery of the Indies”

Adam Lifshey

Published in print: 2010-06-15

Since the nineteenth century the diary has been the most widely read and referenced account of the events of the 1492–93 crossing. It has been canonized despite the issues of unreliability that result in part from the changes introduced by its editor from early colonial times, the Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas. The version by de las Casas, produced some four decades or more after Columbus wrote the original diary, is the basis of all modern editions. The manuscript by Columbus and a contemporary copy did not survive into posterity. The de las Casas document itself was lost until the end of the eighteenth century and remained unpublished until 1825. It alternates between Columbus's first-person narrative in allegedly verbatim citations and de las Casas's third- person paraphrasings of the explorer's entries.

Chapter 2 analyzes Ottoman Jews’ participation in two different commemorations of the year 1492. In the first case, Jews decided to treat the four-hundredth anniversary of their ancestors’ expulsion ...
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Chapter 2 analyzes Ottoman Jews’ participation in two different commemorations of the year 1492. In the first case, Jews decided to treat the four-hundredth anniversary of their ancestors’ expulsion from Spain as a cause for patriotic celebration, transforming it into a holiday marking their arrival in Ottoman lands. This celebration served a dual purpose. Its architects hoped to encourage Ottoman Jews to honor their state and to persuade the sultan to offer safe haven to Jews fleeing persecution in their own day. The second commemorative event featured in this chapter honored a journey to different shores in 1492. This was the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. As Jewish merchants crossed the Atlantic to represent their state in Chicago, Ottoman Jewish journalists sought to instill in their readers a sense of pride in their coreligionists’ activities abroad and to reflect on what it meant to call their empire home.Less

On the Streets and in the Synagogue : Celebrating 1892 as Ottomans

Julia Phillips Cohen

Published in print: 2014-02-03

Chapter 2 analyzes Ottoman Jews’ participation in two different commemorations of the year 1492. In the first case, Jews decided to treat the four-hundredth anniversary of their ancestors’ expulsion from Spain as a cause for patriotic celebration, transforming it into a holiday marking their arrival in Ottoman lands. This celebration served a dual purpose. Its architects hoped to encourage Ottoman Jews to honor their state and to persuade the sultan to offer safe haven to Jews fleeing persecution in their own day. The second commemorative event featured in this chapter honored a journey to different shores in 1492. This was the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. As Jewish merchants crossed the Atlantic to represent their state in Chicago, Ottoman Jewish journalists sought to instill in their readers a sense of pride in their coreligionists’ activities abroad and to reflect on what it meant to call their empire home.